Turn on the news or pick up the paper these days, and you'll likely be bombarded with stories on America's obesity epidemic.  It's not all hype. According to the USDA, the percentage of overweight Americans has doubled among young children and tripled among adolescents in just twenty years. Much of the blame for these rising rates has fallen on school menus.

Efforts to combat childhood obesity include an increase in nutrition-based legislation, much of which focuses on schools' responsibility to encourage a healthier lifestyle for students.  In addition to promoting nutritional education and regular physical activity, these laws emphasize the important role of school district menu planners, whose daily decisions determine what students eat.

Research in national industry publications has confirmed that kids prefer the variety and flavors of foods offered in fast-casual restaurants and mall food courts. With school nutrition mandates growing stricter, school cafeterias must compete with nearby quick service restaurants to appeal to hungry students who prefer fatty, high sugar foods.

Rather than fighting students' fondness for packaged and processed foods, school district menu planners are adapting by developing healthier versions of fast food favorites to recreate the QSR experience kids crave without sacrificing the nutrition they need.

A quality food manufacturer like Windsor Foods makes it even easier for school district menu planners to create QSR-style meals that combine flavor and nutrition. Windsor Foods offers a diverse selection of Child Nutrition products (all manufactured in USDA-approved plants and packaged in accordance with the Federal CN Labeling Program), so school district menu planners know they're serving meals that meet or exceed the strictest Federal nutrition requirements.

Windsor Foods' Jose Ole, Posada, and Butcher Boy lines use premium lean meats, real cheeses, whole beans, and authentic Mexican spices in their burritos and chimichangas for a nutritious take on traditional school district menu standbys. To create other healthy versions of restaurant-style classics kids prefer, Windsor Foods offers Golden Tiger egg rolls and Bernardi cheese raviolis for school district menus.

With tougher school nutrition laws and competition from fast-casual restaurants, school district menu planners are attracting students back to the cafeteria with healthier twists on fast food favorites. Windsor Foods' selection of Child Nutrition products gives school districts delicious, QSR-style meals that meet or exceed all Federal nutrition requirements; it's the best of both worlds for students and school district menu planners alike.

Contact your Windsor Foods broker today for an on-site demonstration and tasting of Windsor Foods' great menu selections!